Bet on the Leadership Trifecta

When it comes to leadership there is no shortage of content, and it can be overwhelming.  Many of us who love to learn can find ourselves overloaded with ideas and lacking on application.  Here are my top three areas of focus – my Leadership Trifecta.  In other blogs I’ll take these one by one.  I’ll go deeper and provide you with a few ways you can put them to use in your life.

Let’s look at the Leadership Trifecta

• Growth Mindset – a belief that one’s own abilities can be developed through hard work
• Emotional Intelligence – managing one’s feelings, understanding the current situation, and adjusting for the purpose of a successful outcome
• Psychological Safety – the belief that it is safe to speak up, share ideas, ask questions, or try new things.

Individually, each of these represents a powerful force for good.  They each help us be better individuals and be better together.  Combined they produce an environment of almost unstoppable productivity.

The first two, Growth Mindset and Emotional Intelligence are individual sports.  We each have the ability to learn about these and take charge of ourselves in order to begin the journey of growth. 

Psychological Safety is a team sport.  It takes all of us being willing to participate in creating an environment where members of the team can speak up without fear of punishment or retribution.  While the formal leader has an outsized role in modeling the behaviors, Psychological Safety can’t be mandated or forced onto a team.

Individuals who are committed to a growth mindset and regulating their emotions, are ready to build psychological safety in their teams.  There will be missteps.  Offenses can be overcome through acknowledgement and apology.  As the team builds greater trust and believes in the intentions of the members, teams can quickly get back on track.

The Leadership Trifecta – Growth Mindset, Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Safety – can be the key to individual growth and a productive organizational culture.